


The Mask of Perfect Health

by MissBarbieAnne



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 15:16:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13743672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissBarbieAnne/pseuds/MissBarbieAnne
Summary: Comments bring me joy ♥





	The Mask of Perfect Health

Just 2,000 more words. That’s all she needed. 2,000 more words and her final paper for Accelerated Women’s Literature would be complete. If only the words would stop moving on the screen. Or if only her bones would stop aching. Or if only it was not so damn _cold_ in her bedroom.

Bella adjusted the blanket around her shoulders, suppressing a shiver as she frantically typed on her keyboard. The little clock on the corner  of her laptop read 1:53AM. She had been working on this paper ever since she came home at 9:00PM after closing the coffee shop for the night. It was due the next day, and somehow she had completely forgotten about it.

The past week had been stressful. She had taken on five classes this semester as well as juggling full-time work. Between early mornings and late nights at the coffee shop, and hours upon hours of reading and writing and studying, she was burnt out. Now, finals week was upon them. She had three papers to write, one project, and four exams. Luckily, everything was mostly done as a result of little to no sleep. Bella could not even remember the last time she went to bed before 4:00AM, and most days she was awake by 6:00AM.

Everything was mostly completed by now, except for this stupid paper. Bella stared at the screen, trying to make the words stop floating away. She was absolutely exhausted. Her eyelids kept trying to droop closed, but she forced them open each time. Her body felt like it had been run over by a truck, and then the truck reversed and backed over her again.

If she was not mistaken, she would think she was getting sick. But that was impossible, because she never got sick. As a result of living with three older brothers, her immune system was strong and capable of handling anything. She was confident her symptoms were from nothing more than exhaustion, and after class tomorrow, she could sleep for twenty-four hours straight and everything would be fine.

There was a faint knock at her door, and she turned in her chair to see Nora peek in.

“Bella? It’s 2AM, you should be asleep,” Nora said, her voice thick with sleep.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Bella apologized, wincing at how rough her voice sounded.

Nora shook her head. “You didn’t. I had to pee. Don’t you have to wake up in a few hours?”

“I’ll be fine,” Bella turned back to her paper. “Go back to bed.”

“Bella…” Nora walked in and put her hand on Bella’s shoulder. “You have barely been sleeping all week. You need to rest.”

Bella waved her off. “I need to finish this paper and then I’ll go to bed.”

“Bella…”

“I’m fine!” Bella did not mean to raise her voice, and she lowered it to a whisper. “I’m sorry. I just really need to finish this. It’s due tomorrow and I completely spaced it.”

“Just please try and get some rest,” Nora squeezed her shoulder before leaving the room.

Bella sighed, holding her head in her hands once Nora was gone.

She could rest after graduation.

 

Bella finally finished the essay at 4:07AM. Without even bothering to edit it, she printed it out and tossed it into her book bag before collapsing into bed. Within minutes, she was asleep, but it did not last long.

Her alarm blared at 6:00AM and she groaned. She reached over and turned it off before rolling over onto her back.

That’s when it hit her.

She felt _miserable._

Her sinuses were pounding, her nose was blocked, her throat was sore, and the aches and pains were increased tenfold.

 _I think I’m dying,_ she thought, rubbing her hands over her face.

Chills shook her frame as she crawled out of bed, and she wrapped her arms around herself as she made her way into the bathroom her and Nora shared.

Nora would not be awake for another hour, which gave her time to be miserable in peace.

Bella turned on the hot water, filling the room with steam. She tried to breathe it in, but it just made her sputter and cough as she placed a hand on her chest. The coughs rattled her lungs and she tried to gulp in air, but it was _hard_. It felt like her lungs were closing in, and for a moment, she thought she was going to have to grab her inhaler. But finally, they opened back up and she was able to breathe again.

Her asthma never proved to be an issue except when she was sick. Except she was not sick right now. Nope, she was fine. Just fine.

 

Bella chose to drive the short distance to the college today. She honestly did not think she would have made it if she walked, and would have ended up collapsed in a ditch somewhere, and so far during the eight-minute drive, she had counted ten increasingly desperate sneezes. Each one tore up her throat and did nothing to alleviate the pressure in her sinuses. Worse, she had no tissues and had to resort to stifling and wiping with the sleeve of her jacket. It was disgusting.

She finally made it to campus just as another sneezing fit had her breath hitching.

“ _Hih… hih… **h’etchu**_! **Hi..e’sch**! _Hih- **tchh**_!”

Bella sniffled thickly, just barely moving the congestion in her nasal passageways. She leaned her head against the headrest, trying to alleviate some of the pressure. It didn’t help.

Grabbing her bag, she got out of the car and was met with the cold, damp air. The walk to the classroom was about fifteen minutes, and she found herself wheezing on the way there. She had not wheezed for years.

 _That’s weird_ , she thought as she struggled to pull air into her lungs. A coughing fit took over halfway to class and she had to stop as she doubled over from the hacking. Her wheezing grew more prominent, and for a second, she almost started to panic.

_Relax, Bella, you’re fine. Slow, even breathes…_

She took a couple slow breathes through her mouth, since her nose was useless at the moment. She ignored how they made her lungs crackle, and instead focused on getting the wheezing under control. It was still there, but not as loud.

The walk took twice as long as it should have, but she slid into a chair just as the professor walked in. After this lecture, she was home free.

 

Nora quickly silenced her phone without looking at the screen as if began to vibrate during her Marketing class. Even on vibrate, it was still loud as it shook in her bag. But not even a minute later, it was vibrating again. She chanced to peek when the professor was not looking, and noticed Bella’s face in the caller ID.

She glanced at her watch; it was only 8:34AM, and Bella’s class did not end until 10. Something wasn’t right.

She remembered walking into Bella’s room last night, noticing the dark circles under her eyes, her complexion that was much too pale for her normally tanned skin. The way she snapped when Nora suggested she go to bed, and how stressed out she had been the last week.

Without thinking, Nora grabbed her bag and left. She ignored the inquisitive looks from the other students and the glare the professor gave her as she left. This was important.

She picked up when Bella called her the third time.

“What’s wrong?” She quickly asked.

“Nora…” Bella’s voice sounded on the other end, but it sounded forced and rough.

“Bella, are you okay?”

“I… I c-can’t…” Nora could hear her wheezing through the phone, and her heart jumped into her chest. She knew Bella had asthma. She had seen the inhaler in the bathroom cabinet when they first moved in together. She had grilled her on the topic, wanting to know why she had it. Bella had told her she had not needed it for years, but kept it just in case.

“Bella, _please_ tell me you have your inhaler with you.”

There was silence except for the audible wheezing. Then there was coughing, the deep, chesty hacking that made Nora wince. This was not good.

“N-No…” Bella rasped. “Nora… I can’t…. breathe.”

Nora knew where Bella’s Women’s Literature class was. She immediately turned and started walking in that direction, keeping Bella on the phone.

“Just stay on the phone, okay? I’m on my way.”

She didn’t need Bella to talk, she just needed to hear that she was still breathing.

 

She found Bella sitting outside the classroom, her back pressed against the wall and her knees pulled to her chest. Her head was resting on top of her knees, and her whole body was shaking.

Nora knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Bella?”

Slowly, Bella lifted her head. She had tear marks streaming down her face, but no new tears were flowing. Her eyes were red and puffy and stood out against her stark white face. Her mouth was slightly open as she struggled to pull air in and wheezing with each breath.

“Okay,” Nora said, contemplating their options. Bella needs to go to the clinic. They should have inhalers or _something_ to help. “Okay, this is what we are going to do.”

Bella watched her as Nora stood back up. But then her nose crinkled up and her already wheezy breath started to hitch.

“ _Heh… hi-heh… **h’ketchu**_!” Bella ducked her head into her elbow. “ _Snnnff…_ ”

“Oh, darling…” Nora shook her head. “We need to go to the clinic. Can you stand?”

Bella nodded and pushed up from the floor, but she nearly crumpled back down before Nora caught her. Even through her shirt, Nora could feel how warm she was. Once Bella was standing, she pressed the palm of her hand against her forehead, and was greeted with a burning heat she had been expecting.

Bella was sick, and possibly on her way to having an asthma attack.

 

Bella leaned heavily on Nora the entire way to the campus clinic. Her entire focus was getting air into her lungs, a task that was becoming increasingly difficult. She felt so winded and out of breath, and no matter how many breaths she took, it was never enough. Her chest hurt and her head was pounding and every time she sneezed or coughed, it felt like someone was running knives down her throat.

Nora whispered encouraging words to her as Bella did her best to put one foot in front of the other. Finally, after what felt like hours, they made it into the clinic.

“We need help! She has asthma,” Nora told the front desk as soon as she settled Bella into a chair. “She doesn’t have her inhaler, and she has a fever!”

Minutes later, a volunteer and a nurse were beside her and taking her into a room. The nurse put a cold stethoscope to her chest and she shivered at the contact. After listening to a couple different spots on her chest and back, the nurse shook her head and removed the stethoscope.

“Go grab one of the spare inhalers,” she instructed the volunteer before grabbing a thermometer out of her pocket. She slipped on a probe cover and slipped it under Bella’s tongue.

A full minute later, it beeped and the nurse retracted it.

“102.1,” she said, giving Bella a sympathetic look. “You are one sick puppy, my dear.”  
Bella was barely paying any attention. The room had begun to spin, and she was still wheezing as they waited for the volunteer to return.

“Can I… can I lay down?” She asked, feeling as if she would pass out right there.

The nurse helped her lay back against the vinyl bench in the exam room, and Bella closed her eyes as she listened to her own breathing.

_Where is Nora?_

She noticed her friend had not followed them into the room. Pushing herself up a little bit, she looked around.

“What’s wrong, hun?” The nurse asked.

“Where is…” she had a pause to wheeze, coughing as her lungs rattled. “my friend?”

“She’s in the waiting room. Would you like me to go get her?”

Bella nodded, leaning back against the bench.

The nurse retuned with Nora the same time the volunteer returned with the inhaler. Nora kept a hand on Bella’s back to keep her upright as the nurse helped her push down the plunger. The medicine flowed into her lungs and opened up her airway. It was followed by a second puff that opened everything up even more, and when the nurse pulled the inhaler away from her lips, Bella let out a relieved sigh.

“Thank you…” she breathed.

“We will keep you here for a little while longer to keep an eye on you, and then you can go.” The nurse told her before pulling the curtain and leaving the room with the volunteer on her heels.

Bella laid back down and took deep breathes, pulling them in and out through her mouth. She still felt horrible, but as least now she could breathe.

“Bella?”

She turned to look at Nora, who had been holding her hand.

 _When did that happen?_ she thought, looking at their interlaced fingers.

“Hmm?” She replied after noticing Nora was waiting for a response.

“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling good?”

Bella turned her head to cough, trying to clear her throat and make her voice less raspy. It didn’t help. “I thought I was fine.”

Nora rolled her eyes. “Obviously not.”

“I know,” Bella croaked. She tried to sit up and Nora helped her. “I thought I was just tired.”

“Well, look where not sleeping has landed you,” Nora said, gesturing to the tiny exam room. “You really need to take care of yourself.”

“I know…”

“You scared the hell out of me, Bella.”

Bella winced, almost as if Nora’s words had physically hurt her. “I’m sorry, I really am. I should keep my inhaler with me. It’s just that I haven’t needed it for so long.”

“Not just that,” Nora gave her hand a squeeze. “You need to sleep. You need to eat. All this stress isn’t good for you.”

Bella stared at her shoes, not meeting Nora’s eyes.

“As soon as they let you go, I’m taking you straight home. And I am going to go and buy you tissues and medicine and we will just cuddle on the couch and watch the Little Mermaid. And you are going to sleep. Okay?”

Bella smiled and gave Nora a sheepish look. “Promise?”

Nora returned her smile. “Promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments bring me joy ♥


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